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When Janet Yellen leaves the Federal Reserve this weekend after four years as chair, her legacy will include being the first woman to have led the world’s most powerful central bank.

She will be remembered, too, for her achievements in deftly steering the Fed’s role in the U.S. economy’s rebound from a crushing financial crisis and recession.

US factories grew again in January but a bit slower

American manufacturers expanded again last month but more slowly than in December.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, reports that its manufacturing index dipped to 59.1 in January from a revised 59.3 in December. But any reading above 50 signals growth, and U.S. factories have been expanding for 17 straight months.

American whiskey makers toast strong sales

American whiskey makers toasted another round of robust sales in 2017, stirred increasingly by consumers’ thirst for the priciest spirits — mixed in cocktails or sipped straight up.

Demand grew in the U.S. and overseas as the distilled spirits industry gained market share in the crowded adult beverage sector, the Distilled Spirits Council said Thursday.

Google’s AI push comes with plenty of problems

Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently declared that artificial intelligence fueled by powerful computers was more important to humanity than fire or electricity. And yet the search giant increasingly has to deal with messy people problems.

It has vowed to employ thousands of human checkers just to catch rogue YouTube posters, Russian bots and other unsavory purveyors of content. It’s also on a buying spree to find office space for its burgeoning workforce in pricey Silicon Valley.

US stocks close mostly lower as early gains fade

U.S. stock indexes are mostly down in late afternoon trading, on course to close lower after shedding modest gains from earlier in the day.

Losses in technology stocks, as well as retailers, restaurant chains and other consumer-focused companies, account for much of the decline. Banks are up, getting a boost from rising bond yields, which set the stage for higher interest rates. Energy stocks are also up along with crude oil prices.